Friday, June 10, 2016

11:46 AM

The GAB is slowly making its way through the challenges to various nomination papers and has followed staff recommendations to reject those filed against the GOP candidates in the 30th SD and 7th AD.

The challenge to the papers of Eric Wimberger, a Republican running in the 30th SD against Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, sought to invalidate all of the nomination papers over the address Wimberger listed on his papers. His declaration of candidacy lists his address as 1145 ½ Pine Street, while his nomination papers listed it as 1146 Pine Street Upper. GAB staff found the address has two acceptable house numbers, and the board agreed.

State Rep. Daniel Riemer, D-Milwaukee, challenged the papers of GOP opponent Zachary Marshall to invalidate some signatures for having illegible information and containing signatures that were obtained from those who had already signed papers for other candidates running for the office. The staff recommended striking some signatures, but still found he had 208 valid ones, above the threshold of 200. The board agreed 4-2 after a lengthy discussion about the standard for determining whether a signature is legible.

In his appearance before the board, Riemer said he is not challenging Marshall’s integrity, but simply couldn’t make out who the people were listed on the nomination papers.

“I don’t think anything about his was done fraudulently,” Riemer said. “As was true with my own signature collecting process, mistakes get made, people write the wrong things.”